For The Galaxy A8, Samsung Has Got Its Pricing Wrong

Samsung has got its Galaxy A8's pricing all wrong. The handset was announced for the Indian market today, and while many were drooling all over it at its China announcement, things have changed and its not for the good. This is keeping in mind, not only the hardware, but the pricing coming from competitor offerings that already exist in the market and even those that are yet to arrive.

Seems like Samsung really did a major pricing blunder with the Galaxy A8. While the internals are pretty-much mid-range, banking on just a camera with OIS and a fingerprint sensor is not going to take the handset places.

Of course we do get the all-metal goodness with Samsung’s new design philosophy, which seems to mimic the Galaxy S6. It not only looks like a premium device, but also comes with less glass and more metal. This allows Samsung to design it well. So well in fact that it manages a 5.9 mm waistline, which also makes it the slimmest Samsung smartphone ever.

Looks apart, comparing the hardware inside, we do have a competitor. It is a bit outdated with the 20 nm manufacturing process, still then the Exynos 5430 (which debuted with the Alpha) is still a great contender.

Then there is that 16 MP OIS camera, which is supposed to be the highlight of the smartphone, almost turning it into a budget flagship (there’s nothing budget about it for now). Lets also not forget the fingerprint scanner. One that will have applications once Google releases Android M and its many APIs.

So the Samsung Galaxy A8’s greatest enemy is not just the upcoming LG G4 Beat, but also the Samsung Galaxy S6.

The handset is expected to get a price cut in the coming months, to make up for lost sales. This itself is expected to bring the price down of the Galaxy S6 from Rs 39,790 to the same as the A8.

Then there are the new low-cost flagships, which are expected to invade into its space as well. The OnePlus 2 will be available for purchase come 11th of August for Rs 22,999 and it even includes a snappy Snapdragon 810 chipset. Again, there is also the Motorola Moto X Style that is expected to retail in the same price range in India.

If you ask us, the Samsung Galaxy A8 in all its metal glory should be priced at around Rs 25,000 or lower. It will make for a quality mid-segment smartphone with hardware that will give it an edge over the current competition.

Anything higher, will see it getting dragged to compete with the upcoming range of low-cost flagships. More importantly, we are even expecting another price cut for the OnePlus One as well, and it includes a capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 inside.

Clearly, keeping all of the above in mind, we can easily tell that Samsung Galaxy A8 will receive a major price cut, soon. So if you were thinking about buying one, we suggest you hold on to that purchase for a few more days till the prices drop.